Interactive television (iTV) is currently available in varying forms and there is perhaps no single, universally accepted definition for this term. Most, however, would agree that iTV systems combine, in some form or other, the passive viewing experience of traditional TV viewing with the interactive nature of external data and content sources such as the World Wide Web. Thus, in different implementations, iTV might allow viewers (perhaps more appropriately termed subscribers) to review local news headlines or weather forecasts while watching their favorite television shows, to chat with other viewers about the latest plot twists, and/or to search for an obtain enhanced content regarding a currently televised program. Many cable and satellite TV providers have deployed iTV systems that allow subscribers to order products seen in commercials or video on demand presentations with the click of a remote control button. And certainly all iTV systems have a version of an interactive program guide that allows subscribers to learn about and select desired programming.
A specific service offered within the iTV landscape is enhanced TV (ETV) broadcasting that provides interactive content linked to video programming. A user can request information on products within ads, access additional program information such as sports statistics, or otherwise interact with a television broadcast such as a game or reality based show. This functionality is achieved through the execution and transmission of an ETV application and corresponding data sent in the broadcast channel or other mechanism along with the video broadcast.
These and other iTV services are deployed as a set of applications over the service provider's network. Such applications are received at the subscriber's premises via a set-top box or similar device, where they are interpreted (compiled), executed and the corresponding data is displayed on a television.
Many applications may be presented to end users via a common user interface and order/transaction entry and tracking system. However, each application has specific integration, management and distribution issues that arise depending on the environment that the network operators choose to deploy and significant problems are experienced by application providers and distributors in deploying and managing their ETV applications as a result. Stated differently, application providers and distributors face problems in developing and managing their ETV applications because there exists a proliferation of technologies and standards for the delivery of ETV applications and different network operators have chosen to deploy different combinations of these technologies. For example, ETV application providers must cope with networks that have been cobbled together with different technologies such as:                1. Head-end technology from different providers.        2. Set-top boxes from different manufacturers.        3. Various combinations of network topologies.        4. Middleware from different providers.        5. VOD servers from a variety of providers and vendors.        6. Billing systems from multiple different companies.        7. Conditional access systems from different vendors.        8. Differing implementation standards such as HTML, XHTML, XML, Ecmascript, OCAP, MHP, ATVEF, DASE, etc.        9. Various programming languages, such as Java, C, C++, etc.        
Content providers and application developers must navigate through this maze of often incompatible and unique combinations of equipment, technologies and standards, and often must develop a unique and different application for each such combination that they wish to target. For their part, network operators must deploy, configure, manage and operate ETV applications on each different network configuration individually, increasing cost, complexity, and staffing needs, while reducing the number of service that can be deployed, and the quality of those services.
Another significant problem for the deployment of ETV applications in the United States is that the majority of in-service set-top boxes have relatively limited capabilities with which to store and process ETV applications. For example, many distributed applications may not be executable on various set-top boxes due to the memory and processing requirements to compile or otherwise interpret the application and data for proper display. These set-top limitations make it very difficult to support the features, functions and viewer response times for ETV applications that are required for a compelling and rich user experience.